Ancestry Names Margo Georgiadis Chief Executive Officer

Editor’s Note: We just received this information from Ancestry.com, one of our affiliate partners.

LEHI, Utah and SAN FRANCISCO — April 19, 2018 — Ancestry, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Margo Georgiadis as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Georgiadis will join the company on May 10, 2018. Most recently Georgiadis served as Chief Executive Officer of Mattel, Inc. and prior to that as President, Americas, at Google Inc. Georgiadis will succeed Howard Hochhauser, who has served as interim CEO since October 2017 while the Board conducted a comprehensive six-month search for a permanent CEO. Hochhauser will return to his role as Ancestry’s CFO and COO.

“I am thrilled to join Ancestry at a dynamic period of accelerated growth and innovation,” said Georgiadis. “Ancestry is incredibly well-positioned for continued success and rapid expansion, as millions of consumers around the world embark on their journey of self-discovery with us. I am excited to help realize Ancestry’s mission to connect the world and enhance our consumers’ understanding of who they are and where they come from. In partnership with the world-class Ancestry team, together we will seek to drive the company to new heights.”

“Ancestry is at an exciting inflection point as we combine the world’s premier online family history service with our market leadership in the hugely attractive and rapidly expanding sphere of consumer genomics,” said Tim Sullivan, who served as Ancestry’s CEO until September 2017 and is now Chairman. “After an extensive global search, it was clear that Margo is the ideal next leader of Ancestry as the company enhances its strong global position in fast-emerging categories and delivers unique personalized insights to our millions of current and future consumers.”

Bringing together science, technology and self-discovery, Ancestry’s market-leading products and services leverage data and distinct content across family history and consumer genomics to provide consumers with valuable insights into their lives. In 2017, Ancestry generated more than $1 billion in revenue, an annual increase of more than 30 percent. The company has sold approximately 10 million AncestryDNA kits to date, reflecting a 115% year-over-year increase in sales in 2017.

“On behalf of Ancestry’s Board of Directors and lead investors at Silver Lake, GIC and Spectrum Equity, I am excited to welcome Margo to the company as our next CEO,” said Stephen Evans, Managing Director at Silver Lake and member of Ancestry’s Board of Directors. “Margo has all of the skills and experience we were looking for, with a unique background of successfully driving growth at scale across leading global Internet and consumer-facing businesses, and a strong track record of operating in growthfocused, technology-driven and data-rich environments.”

“I also want to thank Howard for his leadership as interim CEO,” Evans continued. “Howard helped Ancestry maintain focus on our mission and continue to execute our strategy. Under his leadership, Ancestry’s financial performance continued to be impressive, setting a sound foundation for 2018. Howard brings tremendous value to Ancestry and will continue to be instrumental in leading the company into the future.”

“Margo is the right person to lead Ancestry and capitalize on the dramatic new opportunities emerging for the company,” said Hochhauser. “Margo’s demonstrated management capabilities and the depth and breadth of her consumer and technology knowledge will enable Ancestry to continue to thrive.”

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About the Author

Genealogy educator and author Thomas MacEntee has been researching his family history for more than 40 years and is the creator of Abundant Genealogy, Genealogy Bargains, DNA Bargains, The Genealogy Do-Over and numerous other web-based genealogy and family history properties.